Money woes have Pecatonica Prairie Path at a standstill

ROCKFORD — Two years ago, optimism was high that the Pecatonica Prairie Path would get a $5 million upgrade, thanks to an Illinois Department of Transportation grant.

Mike Wiser

ROCKFORD — Two years ago, optimism was high that the Pecatonica Prairie Path would get a $5 million upgrade, thanks to an Illinois Department of Transportation grant.

That money was going to be used to build or upgrade four bridges in Stephenson County — including a 612-foot span over the Pecatonica River — and construct eight miles of path between Meridian and Conger roads in Winnebago County.

Today, the five-government consortium that oversees the expansion of the envisioned 28.3-mile hiking/biking trail connecting Freeport and Rockford is still waiting for the funds to come through.

And a big reason for the wait is four of the five haven’t been able to come up with their share of the 20 percent local match needed to get the state dollars.

“At this juncture, although paths continue to be a priority for us, we have not been able to put the matching funds aside for the Pecatonica Prairie Path,” said Laura Pigatti Williamson, the Rockford Park District’s deputy director of capital planning and management. “What we have done is made sure we keep it in our planning process so it can be done when funds are made available. We are extremely committed to the project.”

A consortium
The Park District is one of the five government entities that make up the commission because they control the land where the path will eventually run. The others are Winnebago County, the Freeport Park District, the city of Freeport and Stephenson County.

“I know it’s been real hard in Stephenson County coming up with that money,” said Commissioner Randy Olson. “It’s been real hard here, too. I think only Winnebago County has been able to put the money aside.”

Started in mid-1990s
The commission came into being in the mid-1990s after Gov. Jim Edgar proposed — and said there would be money for — a single trail that would run from the Illinois/Wisconsin border down through southern Illinois.

But these commissioners were using the template of a nonprofit group that was formed in the 1970s to raise money and clear a path between Freeport and Rockford. That group dissolved in 1994.

The path between Rockford and Freeport is still piecemeal. Some places are paved, some are gravel, some are nothing but matted-down wilderness. Bridges that cross rivers and creeks can be sturdy, shaky or not there at all.

“Before I go riding I like to check a place out,” said Erik Pierson, 37, an avid cyclist who moved from Pecatonica to Chicago in September. “But it seemed grassy and grown over. It didn’t look as fun as some other trails that I know of, so I never did it.”

Some money remains
The commission still has some dollars at its disposal from an original $5 million grant that was let during the administration of former Gov. George Ryan, said Carlos Molina, a Winnebago County Highway Department engineer who also serves as project manager for the Pecatonica Prairie Path.

It was when this money was running out that the commission began putting together the grant request in 2008. Molina said while the big grant hasn’t come through, the individual entities that are part of the commission have worked on smaller parts of the path on their own and with other funding sources.

“Even though we don’t have the local matches, there are still projects that can be done,” Molina said. “We’re going to do some bridges this year, and we’ve applied for a Department of Natural Resources grant as (Winnebago) County that might come through.”

Waiting for rebound
Olson said the path will likely become a higher priority when the economy rebounds.

“You know, I don’t know when it will get done, but it should be in the next few years,” he said. “The hard part is going to be connecting it to the rest of the state, because there are some of those southern counties that are nowhere as far along as we are.”

Staff writer Mike Wiser can be reached at mwiser@rrstar.com or 815-987-1410.

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